Bell Bridge

The Bell Bridge carries State Route 42 over Mill Creek in Putnam County, Indiana. It replaced the first fixed crossing at this location, an 84-foot covered bridge with a 16-foot-wide roadway, constructed in 1886. ^[1]

In June 1940, the Indiana State Highway Commission awarded a $67,632 contract to George R. Harvey of Danville, Indiana, to construct a new bridge using a state design. ^[1][2] Completed in late spring 1941, the replacement was a 175-foot riveted Parker through truss with a 24-foot roadway, based on a revised version of the Commission’s third-generation standard plan No. 475A, which was used for several similar bridges statewide. The bridge was rehabilitated in 1973 with a new concrete deck and replacement stringers, ^[2] and again in 2015.